


Blinded

by TeamHPForever



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Campaign 1 (Critical Role), First Kiss, M/M, spoilers for campaign 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 20:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17128130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamHPForever/pseuds/TeamHPForever
Summary: Percy gets blinded by a mysterious box. Vax is the only one there to guide him.





	Blinded

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago, after I listened to the Feywild episodes. This isn't set during any particular time period in canon.

Percy presses down the tunnel, eyes scanning the walls. There’s nothing down here except a few long-abandoned wall sconces, covered in a thick layer of dust. Even so, he keeps a hand on Retort, just in case. He can hear the soft pad of Vax’s footsteps in the distance as he scouts ahead for any sign of traps. The Clasp may have abandoned this network but that doesn’t mean they didn’t leave surprises behind.

Vex’s voice crackles through the earpiece. “Find anything?”

Percy pauses a couple paces behind Vax. He’s too busy kneeling next to a patch of ground and examining it to respond. Percy says, “Nothing here.”

“Be careful,” Vex reminds him before falling silent again.

Vax places himself as flat against the ground as he can and presses down on the suspicious tile. With a soft whir of turning gears, a spike shoots from the wall, shattering harmlessly on the opposite side. Vax stands with a crooked smile. “Should be safe now,” he says. “There’s no one here to reset it.”

Percy nods and continues to follow. A hundred feet down, the tunnel opens up into a small room. It looks like a treasure trove of sorts, long emptied and abandoned. Dust covers a single table in the corner, one of its legs snapped in half. Silver glints in Percy’s torchlight, something hidden in the shadows beneath.

Vax goes to investigate the sconces along the left wall, muttering to himself as he pokes and prods them. Percy sets his torch in an old sconce and climbs under the table. It’s a box, battered but still in one piece. The lid has a design he doesn’t recognize—a rose and hyacinth with stems intertwined—inlaid in silver. The lock is broken in two.

“Wait—” Vax says. It’s too late. Percy opens the box.

White light bursts out, fading into pure darkness. His torch must have gone out. But then, wouldn’t his eyes be adjusting? Percy turns his head but he can’t see so much as a silhouette. He lifts his hand to his face. No movement. No light. Nothing.

“You _idiot_ ,” Vax growls at his side. “You never learn your lesson, do you?”

“Pot and kettle, don’t you think?” Percy coughs at the smell of smoke rising from, he assumes, the box still open in front of him. “Can you light my torch?”

“Percival…” Vax lets out a string of curses, resting his hand on Percy’s shoulder. “Your torch is still lit.”

“Oh.” Not total darkness then. He’s blind. His hand reaches for his notepad before he realizes that he probably won’t be able to write any useful notes without his sight. “This is quite fascinating.”

“ _Fascinating_ ,” Vax spits out.

Percy has always imagined if he went blind it would be because one of his experiments went terribly wrong and blew up in his face—literally. He turns to take a step and almost face-plants as the toe of his boot catches the table leg. A hand grabs his shoulder and holds him steady. “Is there anything in the box?”

Vax lets out another string of curses regarding Percy’s priorities. “No,” he says, when he’s finished. “It’s empty.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Percy taps his hand against the surface of the table, orienting himself before he takes another step. “It could’ve at least been worthwhile.”

“I wish Pike were here,” Vax says, letting his hand slip off Percy’s shoulder. “She’d know what to do to fix you up. Vex, how’s it going?”

There’s silence through the earpieces. “They must be too far away.” Percy pulls out his sword, leaning on it like a cane. “We’ll just have to keep going.”

“I don’t think so.” Vax tugs the sword out of his grasp. “You’ll stab yourself in the foot waving it around like that.”

“I can’t very well stumble around down here,” Percy snaps, reaching to snatch the sword back. His hands clutch at empty space.

“You have me,” Vax says from his opposite side. A hand grasps his. It’s warm and pocked with callouses and scars—the hand of a rogue. “I’ll make sure you don’t trip and fall on your own sword.”

“How are you supposed to keep an eye out for traps if you’re helping me?”

Vax laughs, a melodic sound that echoes through the tunnels. Percy resolves to hear it more often. “I can multitask.”

Percy’s world narrows down to Vax’s hand in his as he follows the rogue’s footsteps. Vax might rush headlong into dangerous situations, but after everything they’ve been through, he trusts Vax not to lead him into harm.

Vax freezes mid-step, body primed with tension. Percy digs in his heels, trying and failing to stop in time. His body crashes into Vax’s, pushing him forward a step. Something clicks.

“Shit,” Vax whispers. Before Percy can draw a breath, he’s being dragged to the ground. Something slices through the air just above their heads. Vax presses  him into the floor, the warmth of his body against Percy’s from chest to legs.

“What was that?” Percy asks, once he’s managed to catch his breath again. Vax still hasn’t moved. Percy gets the strangest feeling that if he lifted his head just an inch, he could kiss him. It’s an interesting thought. He files it away for a less dangerous time—not that there were many in their lives.

“An axe, I think,” Vax says, rolling away from him slowly. They stay on the floor for another minute, then two, before Vax finally gets to his feet. “Don’t move. I’m going to disable this trip wire.”

“Where would I go?” Percy flops his arms against the floor, back starting to protest from being shoved to a hard stone surface. Vax ignores him, muttering to himself as he paces back and forth across the hall. At last, Percy feels him reach down to help him up.

“Maybe this time I should scout on ahead,” Vax says, hand slipping away. “Make sure the Clasp didn’t leave us any other surprises.”

“All right.” Percy ignores the way the blood thunders in his ears, at the thought of being left alone, blind and lost in the Clasp’s maze. “I’ll just stay here then.”

“I won’t abandon you, Percival,” Vax says. He doesn’t make a sound but he knows without a doubt that Vax is already gone. He waits, leaning back against the wall. The stone is cold and rough, catching against his coat. One part of his brain keeps track of the passing seconds. Another listens intently to his earpiece. “Can anyone hear me?”

Nothing but silence. There still enough space in his thoughts left over between the worries for his skin to flush with the reminder of Vax’s body on top of his. The brush of Vax’s long hair against his throat, the press of his leather armor. It’s not a new thought—it’s just the first time he’s come so close with the man himself.

“All clear.” Vax’s voice appears in front of him. Percy startles back against the wall, reaching for his sword before he remembers that it’s no longer in his possession.

“Do you always have to be so quiet?” Percy asks as Vax takes his hand once more.

“Not _always_ ,” Vax says, his voice pitched low and smooth. It sends a shiver down Percy’s spine but he doesn’t have time to think of the implications. Vax is leading him onward. The floor isn’t even—rolling up and down with the flow of the tunnels—and it takes all of Percy’s concentration to keep his feet in order.

Every hundred yards, give or take a few, Vax leaves Percy along to scout ahead for more traps, shuffling his feet a bit when he returns. If he finds any, he doesn’t let on, just takes Percy’s hand. The earpieces remain stubbornly, worryingly, silent.

“Maybe we should go back,” Percy says, after Vax returns for the fourth time. “We could meet the others at the entrance.”

“We’re almost there.” Vax’s hand shifts to the right, leading Percy around something in the tunnel. “Can’t you feel that?”

“Feel what?” Percy lifts his head but nothing seems different. As far as he can tell, they’re still underground, in the Clasp’s tunnels. The tunnel still smells like dirt and damp, still feels clammy.

Vax just sighs and leads him forward. The ground beneath their feet slopes upward. Only now can he feel the air getting warmer.

“Stop,” Vax says, bring Percy to a screeching halt. “I should have known.”

“What?” Percy turns his head, squinting against the darkness. “Is it a dead end? A trap?”

“Worse.” Vax sighs and draws Percy to the side. “It’s a puzzle.”

“What kind of puzzle?” Percy starts to take a step forward and Vax almost yanks him off his feet.

“The kind where if you step on the wrong spot on the floor, we’ll die,” Vax hisses through clenched teeth. “So I suggest you _stand very still_.”

Percy freezes, one shoulder pressed to the wall. He hears the tiniest rustle in Vax’s cloak as the half-elf’s hand slips out of his own. Vax has been gone for three hundred and twelve seconds when Percy hears a crackle the earpiece.

He waits, holding his breath. Then, Keyleth’s voice. “Why don’t you let me try talking to it before you go hacking through these roots?”

Vax’s hand slides around his arm before Percy has a chance to speak. “Do you trust me?” he asks.

“With my life.” It’s not something he’s been able to say much since the Briarwoods took his family, at least not until he found his friends. He means every word.

“Then I need you to do exactly as I say.” Vax’s hand squeezes quickly before he moves away again. “Take one step to your right.”

“Okay.” Percy’s careful to keep his stride steady and measured. Under Vax’s instructions, he makes his way through whatever field of danger they’ve stepped into. His heart taps the passage of time against his ribs. It seems like forever before Vax says, “One more step forward and you’re done.”

Percy lets out a sigh of relief as he takes that step. Vax’s hand claps down on his shoulder, sliding for a moment like he might yank Percy into a hug instead. “Thank you,” Percy says.

“Come on.” Vax’s hand takes his, their fingers fumbling until they twine together. “Let’s get out of here.”

“I heard Keyleth, just a minute ago.”

“I heard.” Vax leads him to the left, around a corner. “Hello? Can you hear me? Keyleth? Vex?”

“Vax!” Vex’s voice is filled with relief disguised as irritation. “Where have you _been_?”

“We went out of range.” Percy has to hurry to keep up as Vax picks up the pace, tugging him along the tunnel. “Is Pike there with you?”

“Of course she is. Why, are you hurt?”

“I’m _fine_.” Vax turns sharply and Percy’s shoulder bounces off the wall. “Percy is blind.”

“Excuse me?” Vex’s shriek echoes through the earpiece and the hall around them as Vax opens a door. Percy is dragged unceremoniously through it and then shoved to the side.

“It’s not that bad,” Percy insists. He takes a step forward and slams into a wall of skin and muscle. “Oh, sorry, Grog.”

“Are you okay, Percy?” Grog asks, loud and slow.

“He thought it would be a good idea to open a box without asking me to check it first,” Vax says and Percy doesn’t have to be able to see him to know that he’s scowling. “Now he’s blind.”

“Okay, okay.” Pike’s calming voice rises out of the fray. A cool hand presses against Percy’s forehead. A chill runs down his spine, prickling but not unpleasant. The world turns gray, shadows filtering into his vision, defining slowly into faces before filling in with color. The first thing he sees is Pike, weighed down with her plate armor, hair tangled with dead leaves. She smiles at him. “Better?”

“Yes, thank you.” Percy turns to Vax, words dying in his throat. The rogue drops the sword with a loud clang and turns on his heel, darting from the room. Vex sighs with the exasperation of a twin sister. Percy picks up his sword, the hilt still warm, and sheaths it. “I think we’ve all seen enough. Let’s get out of here.”

“What happened?” Vex asks him as they follow in Vax’s footsteps.

“Nothing,” Percy says. “Nothing happened.”

Vex’s gaze is piercing but she doesn’t say anything more as they make their way back to the surface.

Vax is waiting at the Keep, sitting on the front steps and looking like nothing has changed. Percy watches him, head cocked with a question that Vax doesn’t answer. Whatever happened down in the Clasp tunnels, they don’t talk about it.

One morning at breakfast, they both reach for the same roll of bread, hands colliding. Vax yanks his hand back like he’s been burned. They don’t talk about that either.

Vax starts to keep to himself more than ever. The few moments they spend together are also spent in the company of everyone else. Even Vex starts to give her brother odd looks whenever he leaves them behind on some promised errand.

Percy creeps up the stairs of the Keep, his eyes burning from the late hours in his workshop. His back longs for the comfort of his bed. A door creaks as he turns the corner. Vax steps out into the hall, hood thrown up to hide his face.

“You’re sneaking out again,” Percy says in a low voice.

Vax turns slowly, like if he doesn’t really move he might be able to disappear against the wall behind him. “Yes.”

“Are you avoiding me?”

Vax’s hood slips back off his head. “Why would I be avoiding you, Percival?”

Percy ignores the question. “Are you going to see Gilmore?”

“No.” Vax sighs, thumbing the daggers tucked into his belt. “If you must know, I’m going to help Jarrett keep watch.”

“Does Jarrett need help?”

“I can’t sleep,” Vax admits.

Percy squints at Vax, taking in the dark circles under his eyes and the unkempt nature of his hair. He’s seen Vax look rough before but things had finally seemed to be going back to normal—or as normal as it could be for Vox Machina. “Is it her again?”

“No it’s…” Vax strokes his fingers down the edge of the Raven Queen’s mantle. “Everything is fine.”

“Are you having nightmares?”

“Percival.” Vax’s voice picks up an impatient snap. “I can’t sleep so I’m going to do something useful with myself. You should go to bed, before you fall asleep on one of your inventions and blow this whole place up.” He pushes past Percy, starting off down the hall.

Percy catches his hand, fingers daring to twine together. “What’s going on with you, Vax?”

Vax yanks away and leans back against the wall with a thud. “Do you have to poke at everything to see how it works?”

“Yes,” Percy says simply.

“Are you sure you want to know why I can’t sleep?”

“I—” The wind rushes out of Percy’s lungs as he’s shoved back against the wall. Vax crowds into his space, leather armor pressing through Percy’s clothes. Vax’s eyes flicker down to Percy’s lips.

Vax kisses like it’s the last thing he’ll ever do. His hands press to the sides of Percy’s face, holding him roughly in place. It’s not necessary; now that he’s here, Percy doesn’t have any intention of going anywhere else, possibly ever again. Percy leans his head back and gives in to the onslaught, letting Vax take whatever he needs.

Vax’s hands slide over Percy’s chest to his waist, thumbs digging into the points of his hips. Percy wraps his arms around Vax, flipping their positions. Vax groans as he crashes against the wall, lips red and swollen. Percy pushes one hand through his hair, moving it out of his face. Vax’s hood catches against the wall. “Maybe I can help you sleep,” Percy murmurs in Vax’s ear, nipping down on his earlobe.

Vax lets out a soft sound, very nearly a moan. “Percival…” He trails off. Percy doesn’t notice him reach down for the door knob before they’re both toppling through the door. It crashes shut behind them.


End file.
